June 16, 2023
Day 47 - an outing to a community with JDN
It's mid-afternoon and I have had a remarkable day already. Clement, Nea and Anzanita picked me up at Timor Plaza and we drove a short way up a valley to the Leci Butak community, where JDN are doing one of their nutrition projects. We unloaded the microlet and carried everything to a spot under an enormous mango tree.
Clement and Anzanita cooked tofu balls as women and children drifted in from the hills. Nea told me, as she weighed children, that it's a hard walk up there!
There was a game on healthy eating, information on hygienic food preparation, discussion of different crops and the production of a healthy snack - mung beans and condensed milk diluted with water.
We finished with lunch of tofu balls, salad and chilli sauce on rice. I can't think of a better way to spend a morning; plus I was partly useful. I'm joining them at another community tomorrow.
Juventude ba Dezenvolvimentu Nasional (JDN) continues to impress! Here are thousands of words in pictures.
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Later in the day I caught up with Carmen at a cafe, Letefoho. Such is the two-tier economy that Eliza, who works at Casa Minha Backpackers, would need to work for a day to buy a coffee.
Cora and I met Carmen in Canberra when she was studying International Relations at ANU. Our claim to fame is that we taught her to cycle. Carmen tells me that we also gave her a bicycle. She returned to Timor Leste as I was cycling from England to Singapore. She is now the Senior Social Protection Adviser to the Ministry of Social Solidarity and Inclusion. Why can't we have one of those?? I've put her in contact with Juventude ba Dezenvolvimentu Nasional.
I suggested that we eat at Delicio Timor because I've been told I should go there. We arrived at a place that didn't seem like a restaurant. A band played, people wandered around talking to each other. Carmen was right at home; she knew most of the people. As it turned out Delicio was closed. We were at owner, Cesar's, 40th birthday party. It was 11 pm when Carmen realised she had to get home. We forgot to get a photo.
Now, wait for my huge surprise on Day 48. You'll be queuing up to read it!
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BTW today’s post rates as a Great Read. Very interesting.
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